Heavy rain causes ‘contaminated’ water to spill from Ty Llwyd

The people of Ynysddu have been living in fear for months, worried about what is leaking from the Ty Llwyd quarry, formally owned by chemical giant Monsanto.

When Monsanto gave the site away and it was placed in the custody of Caerphilly Council, they left drums of chemical waste there.

These drums expired months ago and are now leaking an unknown amount of waste down the beautiful hillsides around Ynysddu and, worryingly, towards the town.

Watch the video below as torrents of water rush down the hillside below Ty Llwyd Quarry

Now, with the unusually high rainfall that South Wales has seen, the water is not running out of the quarry – which the council has managed by building an “aeration chamber” – it is gushing down the hillside.

Photos and videos sent to the Argus show water running down the hillside and it is not known whether and how contaminated this water is.

The most worrying thing is that the water is now being fed by municipal land – the forest below the quarry – and by public roads where pedestrians pass.

Water is running down the hillside after heavy rain (Image: Supplied)

Caerphilly Council’s notorious aeration chamber (Image: Newsquest)

Councilor Jan Jones, who has been fighting for months trying to get Caerphilly Council to manage the quarry for months, says what is happening is a real concern.

“Our concern is that there (water) will be contaminated,” said Cllr Jones.

“It’s going all the way down the road, off the land, to where the houses are, in places like Pontgam Terrace.”

Ynysddu residents are terrified by the potential impact of alleged contaminated water (Image: Supplied)

Its feared contaminated water is leaking from the Ty Llwyd quarry, once owned by an American chemical company (Image: Newsquest)

The Argus has extensively covered what could be a potential environmental catastrophe.

In January, we walked along the hillside where water ran from the quarry.

Are we facing the next major environmental catastrophe in Wales? (Image: Supplied)

In July, we were there to hear Welsh Government rural affairs minister Lesley Griffiths’ worryingly casual reaction to the situation, saying the government would “investigate” Ty Llywd.

Caerphilly councilors Councilors Jan Jones (right) and Janine Reed are fighting for the council to clean up the quarry (Image: Supplied)

Caerphilly Council has previously said it is working to manage the quarry.

“Since the event, council has recently entered into pre-application discussions to determine whether there is a requirement for a formal water discharge consent to be in place at the site.

“We will continue to work with NRW as the site investigation is completed.”

Caerphilly Council independent councilor Jones, who represents the Ynysddu ward, said she and her supporters want to see the situation resolved.

“They (the council) have to ensure there is no contamination coming from that quarry,” Cllr Jones said.

“As far as I know, all the council is doing is investigating and testing.”

We have contacted Caerphilly Council and Natural Resources Wales for an update on the situation at the quarry.